SkitoSnack 2.0 - A Bloodmeal Alternative for Anopheles and Aedes Mosquitoes

Abstract

SkitoSnack, an artificial blood-meal alternative, was developed in 2018 for rearing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in laboratory culture. This artificial blood-meal diet has a long shelf life and can effectively support the long-term rearing of Ae. aegypti. However, Anopheles mosquitoes often do not engorge on it. Therefore, in this study we optimized the SkitoSnack recipe for rearing Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes. We added, removed or changed individual components from the original recipe and measured engorgement rates, egg numbers, and hatching rates. We identified a new recipe that can effectively support the continuous rearing of An. stephensi. We then tested this new diet with Ae. aegypti and found engorgement rates, egg numbers, and hatching rates were not statistically different from those of blood-fed females. Using a modified FlyPAD feeding system, we showed that Ae. aegypti ingested significantly larger meal volumes of the new diet compared to bovine blood, showing a strong preference for it. Our findings support that our new diet is an effective blood-meal alternative for the rearing of both Anopheles and Aedes mosquitoes. We named the new recipe SkitoSnack 2.0.